


Dark Victories 3: For Lost Time

by RageTH



Series: The Dark Victories series [1]
Category: Teen Titans, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Near Future, Angst, Drama, Gen, Humor, Some Sci-Fi Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-31 16:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1033672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RageTH/pseuds/RageTH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(An RP Tribute Fic.)<br/>Time is only kind to the good guys.<br/>The Teen Titans core team eventually went their separate ways, but always kept in touch in some way. In time, they decide to hold a reunion, and see each other face to face for the first time in years. They have done well for themselves, and are at the peak of their lives.<br/>The old criminal team that gave the Titans hell for a few years disbanded only a few short years after they united. Night, Katy, Ivy, Aine, Storm, and Nightmare have been off the grid for almost two decades. Raze has rarely been seen, and Sinner was last seen in Tokyo some years ago.<br/>The newest member of the team, Argon, the mystery alien, left after being with the group for over a year, and spent nearly a hundred years locked in war in the far corners of the multiverse. He comes back to Earth looking for answers to why he now has memories and dreams of his old team, some of before he even joined the team. He comes back when the Titans hold their reunion, where only 20 years had passed. His dreams become more, forcing the Titans to go active, facing a man who has known nothing but war, and will let nothing stand in the way of finding out what happened to his old friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Notes and Dedication

* * *

On December 22nd, 2004, I joined an RP a dear friend of mine, Lomesir22, started on an then-popular message board. It was the successor to her very first RP, which was wildly successful, and closed at 138 pages.

Dark Victories 2 was almost as successful, reaching 94 pages before it was closed. It, unfortunately, did not have an ending. I was not able to participate in this RP anywhere near as much as I would have liked, as domestic problems at home, internet problems, a fried modem at one point, and even being forced to sneak onto the forums a couple times to participate, severely limited me.

I had big plans for the RP and my at-the-time very young RP character, a fledgeling ninja-type named Argon. It was his first appearance anywhere, and I had prepared him for this. I spoke at Lomesir about him over time, and spoke with a couple of the other players about interesting plot-points that could created involving him. There was even once a big scene, long since forgotten, that another player, 'Naruto Junkie', and myself had prepared together. Unknown problems forced his long-term departure from the RP before it could be played out.

The gist of the first RP, started October 22nd, 2004, was the adventures of a group of meta-human teenagers from bad backgrounds combining their power to pillage and steal, and do what they please. Along the way, they give the Teen Titans a hard time. the setting was initially the city from the Teen Titans animated series that started airing in 2003. Their travels took them all over the world, from America, to a hospital in Switzerland, capture at a paramilitary camp, and back again, only to face more trouble at home, as Slade himself decided to try and shut down the group, setting an army of robotic minions geared towards taking them down, as well as turning them in to the police. The emergency signal, a grand fireworks display, was set off on the roof of the group's hangout, signaling them all to scatter.

Enter the second RP, started December 20th, 2004. It took place two years after the first RP, with the characters in it scattered by the winds of fate. Two were languishing in prison, one was in a Russian gulag, and another was working for the Yakuza, where he received a special surgical procedure enhancing his abilities and placing him under direct mental control of the Yakuza boss, and the others remaining managed to remain at large, operating alone.

Argon joins the group rescuing a character in the Russian gulag, and stays with the team from that point forward. His outward appearance largely human, but in time the group find out he's not. He's an alien from a distant world, young, inexperienced, his talent still rough, but with it, a unique skillset all his own. Initially arrogant, unflappable and almost insensitive, he grows partial to the group over time, despite the completely different backstory. As a hint, he was once a child film and TV star back home.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to post often enough to properly establish him or really participate in what happened during the RP, by the time I was able to post more, I was struggling to find a way to include him, with the group, and the RP had grown largely forgotten, much to the dismay of myself, Lomesir, and one or two other remaining players.

Despite all the obstacles I faced to posting and establishing my character, I had a wonderful time reading and participating in an RP with, at the time, one of my best friends, Lomesir, and my girlfriend, Phantom Junkie.

Many years have passed since then, and I participated in a few other RPs, even managing to drag Lomesir and Phantom Junkie to another Teen Titans fan forum, for an attempted 3rd iteration of the Dark Victories RP series, this one set up as an alternate universe, with Lomesir, Phantom Junkie, and myself reprising our roles as Night; the leader, Kathryn; the voluptuous circus performer pyromorph, and Argon; the mysterious alien pyromorph, respectively. (And for the record, the family of characters Argon hails from have had command over fire for years before hand, before I knew Lomesir or PJ. I can cite various sources and friends to support this claim. It was mere coincidence that our characters possessed a similar power, and would have made for an interesting plot-point in the future, as PJ and I had discussed our RP characters entering a relationship, mirroring our own already going.)

It however did not last as long as Dark Victories 2, disappointing the three of us greatly. To this day, however, I still consider DV2 my favorite RP of any I had ever participated in, and never quite stopped thinking about it, a small part of me that never can escape the past always wishing it could have lasted longer, always wondering what could have happened. Lomesir had at one point started a novelization of the first Dark Victories RP, but only wrote to the point of establishing the main characters' back stories and never started the actual storyline.

I had little story ideas from time to time over the years, and seriously contemplated writing my own DV storyline, but never had the opportunity to sit down and spend time writing it, as I never had my own working computer, and the computer I did have access to, my parents never would let me spend much time on it for personal reasons between us.

One day in late 2012, I did a search for something, stumbling across the long-abandoned message board that I had been an active member on for several years, the same message board I had met Lomesir and Phantom Junkie on, and there the old RPs remained, after doing some digging. I found Lomesir's abandoned story again, and between reading it and the old RP posts, it brought a tear to my eye, reminding me of some of the best days of my life, admittedly, all spent behind a computer screen, with a social and love life far, far greater than the one I held in real life.

Shortly after the nostalgia trip, I borrowed a close real-life friend's laptop for a while, and I set in motion plans for writing a story of my own, a tribute to my favorite RP series and my old friends. I downloaded both Dark Victories 1 & 2, saving each page at a time. I organized character profiles pulled from posts and set in separate Word files, and reread both RPs, to get a better sense of events, and to attempt to get a better grasp of the personalities of the characters in the story.

On Monday, December 3rd, 2012, I transferred a post on a message board I co-run, where I initially began writing my story on August 20, 2012, but was not able to spend much time on it. From that point, I began spending a lot of free time writing, spending many nights up until 4 A.M., regretfully saving my progress and shutting down the borrowed laptop.

Fast forward to Sunday, February 10th, 2013. After several months of writing, and several hundred edits during re-readings, I completed my tribute story's initial primary draft, with two endings. As of the writing of this note, I'm only posting the good (read: Happy) ending of my story, as I'm considering re-writing the other ending. The word count of the story and the good ending is at roughly 80,000 words.

I want to thank Nevermore and Killer Moth, along with Nether Phoenix, all three of the 'Forbidden Love' Robin/Raven shrine. Nev and Moth, for their work as my partial inspiration during hard times and general assistance in characterization, and NP for his work as a secondary partial beta and character personality adviser. I also want to thank Ravager4(Now Nico4Ever) of Comic Vine, for his assistance as a secondary partial beta and character adviser as well.

Without you all, your critique, and your dearly needed advice, this story wouldn't have been nearly as good as I feel it is now. Your help was invaluable, and means so much to me. This story was years in the making, and you helped make it the best it could be. I hope you enjoyed reading it and pointing out my mistakes as much as I did writing it. I can't thank you enough.

I also want to thank the Dark Victories players of the past, of both the Robin and Starfire shrine, and my old place, Forbidden Love, for your participation, and apologize belatedly for my lack of it.

Special thanks to Lomesir22, the girl who started it all, and to whom this story owes its primary dedication. None of this would have been possible without you. I don't know if you'll ever see this, but if you do, and have the time to spare to read my story, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it makes up for what a lousy player I was. Perhaps you'll enjoy seeing a few moments from your first RP make an appearance in the story…

What follows is not something that is necessarily set in stone as the future of the DV team. Having lost touch with the original players years ago, I took creative liberties to write a new possible future. Also, liberties were taken to combine comic canon with animated, to add a depth to DC characters that previously had little to none in the animated series.

This story takes place around 20 years after the events of DV2, and time has not been very kind to anyone except the heroes. Time is never kind to the bad guys. Not even Argon, who walks the twilight in between, could escape. As you will soon see, Argon comes back to Jump City a changed man, but his dedication to his old friends is fiercer than ever.

One last note: To any of the past DV Players that read this work, forgive me if I didn't write your characters properly, I did the best I could after studying the old RP threads. Please bear with me.

And thus begins the third chapter in the Dark Victories series.

Enjoy.  
Andy C.  
"Rage"

This note originally written on 04/29/2013 0310AM Central Time


	2. Distant Return

Chapter 1: Distant Return.

In the murk of his dreams, he heard names being called amidst the distant sounds of battle. He felt that this battle was not going well. All of a sudden, he heard a familiar voice call out a name he barely remembered, loud enough to awaken him with a start. Argon's eyes snapped open, and he shot up in his bed with a grunt.

"Strange... Not very clear this time..." he mumbled to himself. He had been having occasional flashbacks and dreams, relating events he had no memory of being present of in his past, but they felt real. Like a part of him that didn't belong to him. In an attempt to bring them further from the depths of his mind, he began sleeping more, a lot more than normal for him. More events had come to him, but he only recognized a few people in the dreams and flashbacks. The events he had no recollection of at all. He remembered, deep in his past, nearly a hundred years ago, he used to be with a small group of people. He wasn't the most active participant in events at the time, as he was new to the world, and very, very young. There was a pyromorph, named Katy. Someone he found an interest in, a girl with a power similar to what he himself inherited through his family line. Someone he had chased in the past, a soldier named Raze. But since the beginning of the strange memories, he became more familiar. Yet there we others, where his own memory at times failed him. A girl named Aine, another teen named Andrew. Argon looked out the window next to his bed. Outside, he could see the gentle rotation of a planet.

It was Earth. Earth #38, to be precise, by the reckoning and starmaps of the multiverse made by his people. It was the important one. He remembered where he needed to go, to begin understanding why he was having these dreams and flashbacks. Argon shifted himself to the side of the bed and stood up. He began gathering some clothes and his things. It was nighttime at the location he wanted to go to. He could see the lights of the city twinkling up at him faintly through the clear atmosphere. He stopped for a moment, adjusting a few things he was wearing as he took in the sight before him. The clouds had seemingly started to open up for him in anticipation.

All was quiet in the park, the occasional small animal scurried by, the lights illuminating the streets around it, yet leaving the area in the park in the shadows. A squirrel, asleep in a tree, awoke suddenly. Something spooked the creature, and it quickly scurried to another tree, further away from the center of the park. A faint electric sizzle started to sound, seemingly out of nowhere. The air in a particular spot seemed to waver, distorting the view of the bench behind it. A bolt of crimson energy seemed to shoot down from the sky high above, in a split second's time, a sharp, resounding 'CRACK!' striking the area around it. As quickly as the bright red lightning strike appeared, it faded. In its place, a crouched figure.  
He was difficult to see in the shadows of the park, dressed in a black outfit. He sensed he was alone, as planned, and took in the sights around him. He faintly remembered the park, but one sight he could not forget. In the distance, a massive T shaped building sitting on an island, illuminated by the moon, the windows dark.  
"Damn. After a hundred years, I didn't think that tower would still be standing. I believe we'll be meeting soon then, whoever you may be now."

* * *

Inside that tower, a reunion was starting. A figure stood by in a room dimly lit by a massive glass window, the strange lightning strike having caught his attention, driving him out of a reverie. After a few moments of observation, the door behind him opened.

"Victor, welcome back."

"You ain't missed a beat yet, Robbie. Yeah yeah, I know, it's Nightwing now. You can put up with it for old times' sake." Victor responded with a chuckle.

The figure by the window turned to greet the visitor. After a moment, his face softened, a large grin spread across his face, and the two approached each other, shaking hands warmly.

"What do ya think? It took a while, but I finally did it!" Victor said, flexing his arms.

"It doesn't seem the same without your cybernetic enhancements anymore, Cy."

"Are you kidding? I ain't giving up my sonic cannons!" As he finished, the dark brown skin of Victor's arms separated and shifted around, revealing polished chrome sections, small screens, and artificial muscle beneath, with each arm now ending in a large barrel.

"This is the newest of the new, Rob. Maybe it ain't real skin, but it sure feels like it. I perfected this only a year ago at S.T.A.R.. All the benefits of my old armor, and all the benefits of feeling human again. I've even got muscles I can build again."

"You used to tower over me, and look at us now. I got taller, but you made yourself bigger."

"Heh heh, wait til Kory gets here. She'll be in for the surprise of her life." The anticipation in the new Cyborg's voice was plain. Having been shown up by the girl once known as Starfire in friendly weightlifting competitions in the past, he was eager to test his new strength against her.

"Raven should be here later in the morning. Gar didn't give me a definite time when we last spoke, but he said he was aiming for today. Star said she had a photo shoot to do later, but she would rush here as soon as she could. So why did you come so early?"  
"Same reason you did, Dick. Wanted to look around, see what was different, and what's still the same. Being here sure takes me back," A mischievous look came across Victor's face. "Wanna go raid the fridge?"

* * *

Argon took in the sights of the city as he walked down the sidewalk, finding it odd that having been gone as long as he had been, the changes to the city appeared minimal. As he walked, he noticed a couple of people step out of an alleyway in front of him and walk, staying several feet ahead of him in the same direction he was heading. He heard faint footfalls behind him as well. The ones ahead kept a slower pace, and around the middle of the block, Argon caught up with them. At that moment, they whirled to face him. He took a step back, only to find his way blocked by a second pair.

"Where do ya think you're going in such a hurry?" one in front spoke.

"It's rude to bump into people like that, pal." one behind added.

"You should apologize to my friend. And we don't want no silly words. You bump into my friends, you pay the price." The first one gestured with his hands after he finished speaking. Argon wondered about the wisdom of wearing such a large coat at this hour of the morning. It was far too early to need to worry about scaring innocents, and he didn't take into account the possibility of being accosted by bored thugs. The one in front pulled out a large shiny knife.

"I suggest emptying your wallet before I have to do somethin', well, unpleasant."

Argon took in his surroundings in a quick moment of observation, and then considered his options. It had been a long time since he had been here, and he hadn't been around quite long enough to build a reputation, so there was no sense in running away and making a bad start. He also knew these men would talk, and there could be future repercussions for what he did here, so he decided he wanted these guys out of action for a while. Knife man was going first.

"Time's up, buddy. Looks like you're giving a forced apology." And with that, the knife lashed out.

Argon caught the knife bearing forearm with his left hand, and in one smooth motion, he stepped into the assailant and brought his right arm up into the now-straightened elbow, and smashed into it hard. The resulting snap was followed by a shriek. Argon quickly looked behind at one of the men behind him, and in a split second, judged his aim and snapped his right elbow back and into the guy's face. Then, on instinct, Argon ducked, barely missing being struck by a collapsible baton. Argon swung his right arm like a bat, connecting right between the man's legs. The blow bowed him over, and as Argon rose, he brought his knee into the man's face, hard enough to knock him over in the other direction. Shifting his attention back to the last untouched mugger, he deflected a blow from a sap the man tried to use. Now that the man was a bit off balance, Argon smashed his foot into one of the mugger's knees, forcing his leg to bend the wrong way.

_'Two out of four taken down, two left that could recover,'_ Argon thought. He shifted his focus to the man whose arm he broke. He had started to recover, and now held the knife in his left hand. Clearly not having had much practice, he awkwardly tried to stab at Argon, who in turn easily deflected the attack and disarmed him. He then reversed the knife he held, pulled the man closer with his free hand, and then struck his nose with the pommel, breaking it. Argon reversed the knife again, and while still holding on to the man's arm with his other hand, he brought the pommel of the knife into the man's elbow, shattering it. Again on a feeling, he let go of the man and the knife, and dropped into a crouch. He felt the tip of something tap his head, hard enough to make his vision flare brightly for a split second. Argon rocked onto his hands to catch himself, then pushed himself off and mule-kicked the man behind him. He then heard a metallic crash, and when he stood up, he found the man had been knocked into a newspaper dispenser. He approached the man, who in a last ditch effort pulled out a gun. Argon could see the man wasn't in well enough shape to hit much of anything accurately, his jaw and shirt were covered in blood from the blow to his mouth, and the mule-kick had winded him. Argon quickly dodged to the side and closed the distance between them just as the man pulled the trigger. The muzzle flash lighting up both for just a moment, fear on the man's face, and Argon's face betraying nothing. He shifted his stance, and then snap kicked the pistol out of the man's hand, and in a smooth motion brought the same foot around and brought the heel down onto the man's hand, smashing it into the ground, making him howl in pain.

"Y-y-you don't know wh-who you're m-messing with! W-we're gonna find you, and we're g-g-gonna come for y-you hard!" the man threatened.

"That's good. I needed to make a statement here. Go ahead," Argon started, then shrugged his jacket off, and tightened up some of his gear, revealing that he was ready for a serious fight. Light body armor, a large pistol, the handle of a combat knife just showing from one side above his hips, and the handle of a straight sword behind each shoulder, the sheathes crossed behind his back.  
"You tell your friends and your bosses what happened. Tell them that Argon came back. I'm still alive, and I'm here to see what happened to my friends."

* * *

Later that morning, the sun has risen, and some small amount of life has returned to the tower after the current group of Teen Titans had left it for the original owners to enjoy. Dick Grayson was staring down Victor, as he tried to get used to seeing two normal looking eyes on his old friend, as Victor bounced a basketball in one hand. Suddenly Victor moved, barreling down the court from the far end. He whipped an arm out, flinging the basketball across the court, bouncing it off the ground in front of the post holding up the hoop, then the hoop itself. He leapt into the air to catch the ball, Dick jumping up to counter. Victor extended his reach, lengthening an arm, caught the ball, and then hit the ground running. Dick started to catch up to Victor, just in time for him to throw the ball at the backboard, jump into the air, catch the ball on the rebound, then slam dunk it. Dick brought himself to a stop, and put a palm to his forehead in frustration.

"Dammit, Vic…"

"Hah, how about best fifteen out of twenty?"

"Sure, when the rest of the team gets here." Dick grumped as he moved back into position.

"You mean the man trained by the man who took down Ras Al Ghul is giving up on a basketball game?" Victor taunted with a challenging smile.

"How about me?" a third voice asked. The two men looked over to see a girl leaning against the closest basketball hoop post. She was wearing a black tanktop with black pants, and she had a bag slung over one pale shoulder. Her shoulder length hair was loose on her head and parted sown the middle, covering her ears, and it was a color somewhere between blue and purple. The other two stared at her for a moment, somewhat shocked at not only who stood before them, but also what she said.

"Raven? Is that you?" Victor hadn't seen Raven in a long time, and last time he had, she had still been her usual humorless and sarcastic self. This Raven was different, she seemed more confident, in control, and, a bit lighter, in a way.  
"Hey Raven, glad to finally see you again in person. The camera on those old communicators just doesn't do you any justice!" Dick greeted her, as they both walked over to her. Raven smiled a little at the compliment. Victor grew more wary with each step. He froze at her smile, putting a hand on his forearm as if he were readying one of his sonic cannons.

"Waitwaitwait. Who are you, and what have you done with Rae? You ain't the girl I used to know." Vic eyeballed her hard.

"Nice to see you too, Cy." She said, using her old trademark deadpan, taking all the emotion out of her face. Victor visibly relaxed.

"Now THAT'S The Raven I used to know! And call me Vic, we're all old friends here." He replied with a smile.

"I see we both have some catching up to do, Vic. So Dick, I see you need some help evening things out. Let me face him, one on one." Raven said, turning back to him.

"Are you sure? It pains me to admit this, but he's gotten pretty good, even with him cheating…"

"Hey! I-" Victor started before Raven cut him off.

"Trust me, I can handle him." She replied, setting down her bag. She walked over to one side of the center ring of the basketball court and waited for him. She crossed her arms over her chest as he approached her.

"Check the ball?" he asked her, tossing her the ball. She didn't move, but the ball did disappear into a suddenly generated black aura near her, and it shot back into Vic's hands just as quickly as the ball left his. The ball returning to him so fast caught him off guard.

"Ball's fine, Cyborg, let's go." Raven said when he caught the ball. Vic shrugged in response.

"You asked for it." He said, taking two steps back and shooting for the hoop. Halfway across to the hoop, it disappeared into another quickly generated dark aura, and then fell into Raven's waiting hand. She let the ball roll to the tip of her middle finger, and then balanced it there, holding it up. It started spinning on her finger by itself. She smirked at Vic, and then dropped the ball off her finger into another dark aura, where it next fell through the hoop at the other end.

"Aww, man, that ain't cool!" Vic moaned. Dick chuckled at him.

"Hey, that ain't funny! How am I supposed to block that?"

"Not my problem." Raven said flatly, taunting Vic.

"I'm too hungry to play anymore, let's go get breakfast!" Vic replied, leading the way out of the gym, Raven trying hard to stifle a laugh. The three arrived in the main living room of the Tower to find another person inside. All three recognized him immediately, because of the green skin, green hair, and pointed ears.

"Yo, BB!" Vic called out, happy to see him. Garfield, long ago known as Beast Boy, turned around, holding a tofu sandwich on a plate.

"Cy! …borg? Dude! Whoa! You're not mostly robot-ey anymore!"

"Yeah! Not on the outside, anyway!" He held up an arm. "Synthetic skin, just like the real thing, except…" He trailed off, showing off that same arm transforming into a sonic cannon. "I've had upgrades!"

"Duuude, sweet!"

Raven looked at Dick and rolled her eyes at the two.

"Starting to feel like old times." She said, using her deadpan again. Her voice caught BB's attention, and for a few moments, he stared at her.

"Raven…?" He started, not quite sure what to make of what he was seeing. She gave him a small smile in reply as she moved some of her hair behind an ear.

"Hey Garfield, been a while." She said. His answer was his plate and sandwich hitting the floor. "You too? Gar, it's been over 15 years. We've all changed. I'm in much better control of myself, Life is, …easier for me now. And you've changed too, it looks like you finally matured, a little, and grew into yourself."

"Not just that, Rae, you're gorgeous!" Garfield replied, then, realizing what he said, clapped his hands to his mouth and squeaked, his eyes wide in shock. Raven laughed quietly in response.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I told you, I have much better control now. And thanks." She responded. Garfield looked to Vic.

"Don't look at me. I'm married. I can't say anything." He shifted his head slightly and winked at Raven. Gar heard the worried 'married', and looked horrified.

"What the hell, Cy? You get hitched, and you don't even invite me to the wedding?"

"Or the rest of us, as far as I can tell," Dick added, looking at him. Vic held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Guys, Sarah just wanted a small wedding. It wasn't much more than us, the reverend, her parents, and a video camera!"

"A belated congratulations to you, then." Dick replied.

"Likewise," Raven added.

"Cy, you married Sarah?! Sweet! Congrats!"

"Man, let's just get some breakfast. I'm makin' waffles." Vic said, staving off any further embarrassment as he dug around for his old waffle iron and checked for ingredients.

* * *

 Something had felt off to Argon since shortly after he arrived. After spending some time reacquainting himself with a small part of Jump City, he stopped by a newspaper dispenser. He pulled a handful of change from a pocket and put the needed amount into the machine. Having had more of a life behind him since his last visit, he was fairly well stocked on earth currency. After taking his paper, he checked the date, and surprised himself. It turned out that the amount of time that had passed here since his last visit was far less than he had thought. According to the paper, it was the year 2026. Only twenty years had passed here, as opposed to a little over a hundred years in his travels. The way this particular stream of time flowed was to a degree beyond his understanding, but that fact it had progressed only twenty years gave him a needed advantage. Those who remembered him wouldn't expect his combat skill to have advanced as far as it had. He stuck the still-folded paper under his arm, and walked on until he found a bench, then sat down to read, and get himself current with the events of this world.

"Is he here?"

"Acquiring a visual on his ship is extremely difficult. The cloaking system on it is most effective in the visual spectrum. We have been checking with radar and other spaces based sensors, and have been picking something up in orbit sporadically, but we will need more time for a proper confirmation."

"He is the last one we need. If the memories of the rest were correct, he could very well be the most powerful of all of them."

"Now that it seems like he may be here, I will add another shift to expedite confirmation of the vessel's presence."

"Good. See it done."

Argon finished the paper and set it down next to him on the bench. Earlier in the morning, he felt a presence arrive in the town. One he couldn't pinpoint well, but he knew it was somewhere in the city. He thought that if he could feel that person's arrival, that same person could feel him. He could only hope that whomever it could be, they could help him get to the bottom of the strange dreams.

He felt better, knowing that only around twenty years had passed. The original five heroes that protected this city would still be alive, and they would be in their prime. They could provide an interesting challenge, and help further hone his own skills. Before his own thoughts could continue, he heard the distant sound of something flapping in the sky. He looked up and around to see what it was, and he noticed something small and wingless fly over nearby, with what appeared to be a large box beneath it. He watched it fly towards the tower in the distance. He then stood up and walked on, to learn a new area of the city, and wonder if his message to the criminal underworld would be received.

* * *

It was nearly lunchtime when something crashed into the roof of the tower. It had interrupted Raven telling how she had managed to get out from under the gum advertising situation in Japan. The four Titans rushed to the roof, to find that there had been no accident. Instead, next to a strikingly large suitcase, stood a girl, turned away and talking away on a cell phone.

"…and I am here, Donna. I will let you know if they agree to a photoshoot. I believe I hear a door opening, I shall call you back!" And just like that, she put the phone away, and turned to meet her greeters. A broad smile crossed her face as she recognized those who stood in front of her. "Friends!" she nearly yelled, quickly floating over to get a closer look at the rest of the team. "You have all changed so much!"

"We aren't the only ones, Star. Damn, look at you!" Garfield pointed out, finding it hard not to stare at her. She was wearing a tight button-up shirt, largely unbuttoned and flapping in the breeze, along with tight khaki Capri pants, showing off her almost muscular figure. She didn't seem to be wearing much else.

"Oh Beast Boy!" she said, giggling, "I see you have taken up being a model as well?" She asked him in response, having noticed his stylish haircut, matured features and what seemed to be muscle tone hiding under his Hawaiian shirt and jeans.

"Naah, I've mainly been just workin' out and bombing around in my Bentley, but thanks for noticing!" Gar replied, wiggling his eyebrows at Starfire, inciting more giggles from her. When Garfield mentioned the word 'Bentley', it caught Vic's rapt attention.

"What Bentley?"

"Great to see you back, Kory, Glad you could make it!" Dick said

"It is wonderful to see you again! I see you have become Nightwing!"

"What Bentley?!" Vic interjected. Starfire gasped when she saw Raven.

"Raven! My friend! You have indeed changed so much too!" She said, grabbing her by the shoulders at first took look at her before pulling her into a hug. Tears nearly came to Star's eyes when she felt Rae squeeze back. "Oh, you have opened up so much! You must have obtained better control of your powers! I am proud for you! You look so good now, perhaps we will model together and Donna can take the pictures!"

"That's a maybe, Kory. I may not be ready to do that quite yet..."

"Oh but you must! We will look fantastic together!"

"Dammit, I wanna hear about this Bentley! Gaaaarfield…!" Vic's massive looming presence seemed to move everyone out of the way all of a sudden.

"Oh! Do tell! Is it a Continental GT? Donna says I should get one, that I would look good with it…" Kory inquired.  
"Eugh, no. Those are fast, but they take forever to get there, and it handles like a bus. It doesn't have any character! What I have is a CAR, baby!"  
"Allright, I'll bite. What do you have, Gar?" Dick asked. Garfield started beaming.

"It's a 1928 Six and a Half Litre Tourer! Wait till ya see it! Ooh, that reminds me, Cy, would you mind taking a look at the engine later? It hasn't been running as well as it used to lately." Victor looked like he's been given free reign to design a Moon Base when he heard Garfield's request.

"Well how about right now?! I wanna see that girl for myself!"

"Hee hee! Yes, Let's!" Kory added, clearly excited, as she grabbed her suitcase and casually flung it over her shoulder. Only Raven seemed to notice that the suitcase had left a slight impact crater, her delicate eyebrows lifting in surprise.

* * *

 His headache was intensifying. He stopped to lean against a building and held a hand to his head and grit his teeth. Argon had been shot before, he'd been cut, caught some shrapnel, and had been stabbed. He didn't hold the talent for frontline battle his forefathers had, but he was no stranger to pain. Physical pain he could work with, but this, this was insane. In an effort to stave off the searing waves of burning pain, he tried to manage it with a trickle of crimson energy. It seemed to work, for a moment, but then he felt something in his head give.

* * *

_Argon stood in the center of a large ring, and someone was introducing him to a large crowd. He wasn't fond of this life, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. It did have fun moments though, even if some of the clowns had a thing for him._

_'Wait… what? Why would the clowns…' Argon thought. Things didn't seem quite right, but a momentary glance down at himself seemed to explain it. He wasn't wearing much._

_Having been introduced, he knew it was time to begin his show. He started simple, with small trails and bands of fire curling around his arms to his fingers, then around his body. He soon advanced to controlling streams of fire around, before conjuring smaller animals and working his way up to an elephant at one point, and then it transformed into a group of lions, prancing about and leaping through hoops. In a final flourish, he snapped his fingers, and the lions evaporated_

_"That's our beautiful fire girl, Pyra! Give her a big hand!" The Ringmaster said, ending the performance._

_'What the flying fuck? My name isn't Pyra, and I'm sure as hell not a girl… What's going on…?' Argon thought to himself. Looking down again, he realized he didn't recognize his own body. Aside from the fact he was barely wearing anything, he had breasts. Looking back up, he found himself walking back to his tent, not quite knowing how he knew the way, and found himself confronted by some clowns._

_"Hey Fire Kat, you look real pretty in your new costume!" One of the clowns spoke. The same clown raised his arm, and then everything went black for Argon._


	3. Chapter 2: Can't Win for Losing

"Alright BB, give it a crank!" Victor called out from under the hood.

"Okay!" Garfield responded, and then turned a key as he sat behind the wheel of his car. The engine chugged for a moment before roaring to life, to the cheers of his newly reunited teammates. Gar revved the engine a few times before cutting it off. The garage of Titans' Tower was still closed, after all.

"Oh man, Cy, you're my hero! It sounds better than ever!" Gar enthused.

"Of course it does! I fixed it." Vic replied with a prideful smile, as he put one of the halves of the hood down.

"I cannot wait to ride in it with everyone!" Kory gushed.

"Well, how about I take you all for a dri-" Gar started before an alarm klaxon fired off. Automatically, Nightwing fired up in response.

"Titans, to the common room in five minutes! Get ready!" The Titans old leader belted out. Everyone went their separate ways to their old rooms to change and prepare, while he went straight to the common room to see what was going on. As he walked in, he gave a command to the computer to connect the communications to the screen. The Chief of Police appeared on the screen.

"Nightwing! Great to see you! The others are there too?"

"Yes, what's the situation?"

"Even better! Some nut I've never seen before has showed up, and is terrorizing everyone in the market district with creatures made of fire!" The Police Chief's face was replaced by a video feed showing a man in a black coat walking around, gesturing towards what indeed appeared to be creatures made of fire, transforming into other creatures. Performing tricks and chasing after civilians.

"We're on it. We'll be there shortly to handle the situation." Night said, ending the call. A few minutes later, everyone else had joined him in the common room. Raven was the first to appear, in an outfit similar to what she used to wear, but with more fabric, and more of an elegant look. Victor came out next, wearing sunglasses, a grey tank top, black pants and boots. Garfield was next, in a tight white and red bodysuit . Kory was last, wearing a quite trendy outfit, thigh-high boots leading up to a short skirt attached to her top, with a diamond opening over her stomach, abs flexing visibly. The top of the opening met a plunging neckline, and above that, her face hard and ready for battle, her long hair loose behind her head. She smiled when she saw her team back together and dressed for action. Nightwing led the way to the T-Car, where once again, Vic handled driving duties. A short time later, they were in the market district, and approached the scene on foot. They arrived just in time to see lions made of fire leaping through flaming hoops. Victor stepped forward.

"Hey! This ain't the time or place to be holdin' your own personal circus, whoever you are." He stated, transforming his arm into a sonic cannon. The man conjuring the fire creatures looked at the Titans, annoyance and disgust crossing his face.

"We ain't the clowns, either." Vic added, and then fired his cannon right into the man's chest, sending him rolling and putting out the lingering fire in the area for some strange reason.

"Titans, Go!" Nightwing commanded, sending the group into action.

* * *

Argon opened his eyes to the evening light. It took him a moment to assess his situation. He remembered the strange circus dream, conjuring creatures, clowns. And oddly, being a girl. After running a quick extremity check, he looked down at himself, relieved to see everything was as it should be.

"Hey Rob, I got the Sonic if you got the boom…" Argon heard an unfamiliar voice say. He knew danger when he heard it. He whirled his legs, flipping himself upright and looked around. He spotted his opponents. Two girls, one mystic-looking in a cape, the other's eyes and hands glowing bright green, a mountain of a black man, a tall black-haired man wearing a black bodysuit with a blue bird shape on the chest, and an oddly colored green man in a strange outfit, all quickly moving to surround him

"You all friends of those muggers who tried me early this morning? They sure sent you quick."

"We are no friends of criminals! We are the Titans!" The floating glowing girl replied, irritation clear in her voice. In response to the name, he quickly reached for his swords and pulled them out of their sheaths, a pair of metallic clicks accompanying their quick-draw feature. He knew with the Titans here, he was in for the fight of his life. When he drew his swords, the Titans all moved. He quickly found himself under attack by a mass of green blobs of energy forcing him to duck, dodge and backpedal. A green rhinoceros plowed into him, smashing him into a storefront. An intense blast of fire forced the creature back, allowing Argon to rejoin the fight. He readied himself to return the charge to the green creature when the air next to him shimmered as a blast of sonic energy smashed into his shoulder, followed by several small explosions before a black-booted foot shot through the smoke square into his chest, sending Argon flying. He managed to barely catch himself. Two quick flashes of his own crimson energy returned his swords to his hands. Just in time to see a car lifted from the ground in a mass of black energy start flying towards him. A split-second before it struck him, Argon slashed at it, and conjured a small explosion between the two newly created halves sending them tumbling along each side of him. He heard a roar from behind himself, and in a snap decision, he quickly coated his swords in crimson energy, rendering them non-lethal, and when the large black man was almost in reach, Argon stepped toward him and lashed out, the blade passing though his arm at the shoulder. The large man cried out, holding his shoulder, but his arm was still attached. Argon noticed out of the corner of his eye the tall man in black toss several small discs at the ground near him, instantly creating a smoke screen. Before Argon could react, a green glow shot through the smoke, knocking him off balance, followed by a pair of glowing green eyes chasing after a pair of fists. The flying tackle hit him hard, and in a brief flash of anger, Argon struck at his assailant with one of his energized swords at the one thing he could see clearly. The strike brought them both crashing to the ground, but before he could skid to a halt, Argon found himself surrounded by darkness. The strangest feeling overwhelmed him. Dread, terror, despair, and to his surprise, his own crimson aura reacted violently to his situation.

What had been meant to be a simple attack changed dramatically when Raven enveloped the fire conjuror in her aura. She wasn't expecting the sudden recoil she now faced. The orb of darkness that held the man she was attacking started sparking red energy wildly. She was forced to concentrate heavily, and without conscious effort, she started repeating her mantra.

"Azerath metrion zinthos, azerath metrion zinthos, azerath…" on that last, she managed to drag him to the side.

"Metrion…" She raised him high into the air, her hand guiding his body up.

"ZINTHOS!" She yelled, dropping her hand into a fist. The man dropped from the sky, smashing into the ground hard. She released her aura from him after he hit the ground, resulting in one final snap of crimson energy. She allowed herself a moment of anger as she then possessed a small nearby car and dropped it on him. Raven rubbed the strong tingling feelings out of her hand for a moment before moving to Starfire's side. She seemed okay, but complained of a headache, and was groggy. As she helped her teammate to her feet, the car she had dropped on her opponent suddenly exploded, flying into the air and bouncing off a building.

Argon slowly forced himself to his feet, using a sword as a crutch. He was in no shape to continue the fight, one of his arms had popped out of socket, and one of the bones in a leg felt fractured. The few cuts and bruises he had he was hardly aware of. He drug himself out of the crater he had been forced into and then further helped by the car. He felt his rage rising from the pain and the defeat. He was unaware of the striking glow coming from his eyes. After feeling his anger flare for a few moments, Argon was able to regain control. Continuing the fight now would only invite further injury or death. He looked up to see the black man approaching him, one arm dangling limply, the other transformed into a weapon.  
"Whoever you are, I strongly suggest you give up now. The cops are on their way here. Before they get here, Tell me what you did to Starfire, and what you did to my arm." He demanded. Argon had no intention of giving up. It was time to run. Being arrested would hinder his investigation into his dreams. He grunted and tried to pull himself up to his full height as he placed a hand on his dislodged arm. He looked into the man's eyes.

"…It's temporary." He strained, applying pressure to his bad arm. Argon's eyes narrowed in pain, but he never broke eye contact. After a moment, a sickening pop sounded, and Argon grunted loudly. He trickled some crimson energy into his shoulder, lightly rejuvenating the damaged tissues there.  
"Til' next time." Argon added, his voice pained. A bright blue plume of flame surrounded him, carrying no heat. It rose several stories into the sky and remained, swirling, and casting a blue tint to everything around it. After a few more moments, it vanished, Argon with it.

"Titans, form up!" Nightwing called out. After a few moments, the rest of the team approached. Victor was clutching his arm, running internal diagnostics, Garfield helped Kory back to the others, and Raven gave him a hand. Kory was still clearly woozy.

"That guy was fast," Gar remarked, "Almost too fast. Almost." He finished, looking at the rest of his team.

"Iono what he was doing with those swords, but he's got some good tricks. He shut down my arm, but there's no apparent damage. How are ya, Star?" Vic asked.

"Ugh. Headake. Tug is nub." She stumbled out.

"He got you in the head after you tackled him, didn't he" Vic wondered. She nodded in reply.

"I thig I pabbed out for a momenth."

"Garfield, is something wrong? You didn't do much out there." Nightwing asked.

"Dude, it's been a while, most of my transforming for the past few years has been to impress the ladies! I'm rusty! What about you? You were pretty much support too, that's not the leader I remember." Gar argued. Night sighed to himself. Garfield was right, he hadn't worked with a team in quite some time as well.

"Let's get back to the Tower and recover. We've got some practicing to do." Nightwing commanded, taking over for Raven to help Kory back to the T-Car.

* * *

With a loud thud, Argon brought himself back to the park he started the day in. He collapsed on a bench and rested a bit, controlling his breathing and heart rates. He passed a hand over his face and through his hair, felt something wet, then stopped to look at his hand. Light blue stains marked it. It was his blood. Some of his cuts were worse than he thought. Once he had his two heart rates under control and down to a resting rythym, he started meditating. He relaxed his mind, then his body, and let the energies within him flow outward, filling his wounds, slowly rebuilding and repairing the damage. Time passed by. He focused some of his energy throughout all existence, attempting to contact the only person he knew he had a mental link with.

_'Nacht, Dad.'_

Argon's father was lightyears and dimensional planes away, back on his homeworld, having retired from his own adventures centuries ago. Argon trusted him the most, and he was the first person Argon would turn to for advice. He was one of the very few that encouraged Argon's unique abilities among his race

_'Morgen, son. Something the matter? You don't feel well.'_ As father and son both shared a degree of power inherited from Argon's grandmother, the two had a mental connection that could share more information than simple conversation could allow.

_'I lost a fight earlier, Dad.'_

_'You're kidding. How did that happen?'_

_'Five to one, their favor. None of them average. Time has passed differently here, only twenty years have passed since my last visit, and the original Titans remain alive and well.'_ Argon couldn't quite hide his annoyance, frustration and a touch of shame. His people pride themselves on their ability to fight when outnumbered, a skillset Argon struggled with.

_'They all struck at once, and you're unfamiliar with their powers. You wished to borrow Crimson's sword?'_ Crimson was Argon's grandmother, and an extremely powerful warrior. She possessed a form of special energy manipulation natural only to her family, and mainly to her. Argon's father only had a passing understanding of it, Argon himself was much more gifted.

_'Yes, perhaps she could give me some insight into this, and worst case, help me fight.'_

_'Part of my mother's spirit may possess that sword, but it is nothing more than a heavily enchanted weapon.'_ his father replied. Argon found himself suddenly guarding his mind against his father learning of a secret he wasn't ready to share with the rest of the family yet.

_'I know, Dad, but until I learn how to deal with their powers personally, I could use the help. I can send it to my ship when I don't need it. Even in this town, a weapon that large would be conspicuous.'_

_'That thing was conspicuous when your grandmother carried it. Take care, son. I once fought with and against something like them once long, long ago myself, when I was close to your age.'_ The weapon was quite large, the blade alone massive and 5 feet long, and the handle adding a little over another foot alone. Argon's father had run into a form of the Teen Titans several centuries in the past in his own travels. The multiverse is massive and infinite in space-time, and travel between planes is limited among Argon's people. The Royal family is the only group allowed nearly limitless travel authority.

_'Thank you, Dad.'_ A comforting feeling washed over Argon, a mental equivalent to something like a hug.

When Argon finally opened his eyes, the Moon had risen high into the sky, and no stars could be seen. He slowly stood himself up, stretching out his body and checking on everything. Argon was still sore all over, his arm and leg still tender. Even with his abilities, it still took him some time to heal more severe injuries. He held out his hand for a moment and concentrated. After a moment, a ball of crimson energy formed in his hand, and then stretched out. When it had grown to over six feet long, it faded away, revealing the massive sword in its place. He balanced it in his hand for a moment before taking a few light practice swings. He slid it over his shoulder, laying it against his back, where it seemed to hang there a moment until Argon gave it a mental command, and with a light flash, it was gone. A second light flash placed a long, curved, darkly colored stick in his hand. It was nearly as long as his grandmother's sword. He tapped it lightly against the ground a couple times, then used it to favor his still healing leg and went for a walk.

* * *

"I've got an idea, guys! Let's take my Tourer out to the old karaoke bar we used to go to, see how it runs now!" Garfield blurted suddenly, realizing everyone was at least physically feeling better at least.

"Actually, it's pronounced-" Raven started, but was cut off.

"Aww YEAH! Can't wait to see how that baby runs!" Victor enthused. Kory started floating and clapped in joy.

"Yes, let us go! I wish to sing for you all!" Kory nearly cheered.

"Looks like we got outvoted, Dick." Raven said looking at Nightwing, sounding defeated.

They all went down to the garage, Vic and Garfield climbing into the front, since Vic called shotgun on the way down. With the roof already lowered, it wasn't too difficult for Dick and the two girls to fit in the back. The Bentley rumbled to life, Gar revving the engine just to enjoy how healthy it sounded. He then put it in gear and roared out, making their way to the old hangout. A short time later, they pulled into the parking lot, Garfield picking out a spot several spaces away from the nearest cars, and under a bright light.

"Alright, Rob, we're gonna get you to loosen up a little. Run this team for years, then we go our separate ways, then we come back, and we still barely know the you behind the mask." Victor proclaimed.

"Maybe I'll have one." Dick responded, sounding a little bashful about drinking.

"Yeah, one quart." Vic said, lightly clapping him on the back as the group walked towards the karaoke bar.

* * *

Argon had been sharing a few words with the bartender over a few drinks of his own when he noticed the bartender look towards the door.

"Well, hey, how about that! The old Titans are here! Imagine that! I'd heard about a reunion, but wasn't sure if it would happen!" as if in response, a loud thump was heard from the bar next to him. He looked over, and noticed Argon, face down on the bar, his hair spilling around his head and his drink. He then heard his voice, muffled by his hair and the bar.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What, you got a problem with those heroes?" He gave Argon an odd look.

"Those heroes were fighting some ass-hat earlier, and one of them accidentally dropped a car on me. And none of them noticed. Have any Everclear? This stuff isn't too strong. Or have you got any old Jack Daniels Devil's Cut? Good flavor on that stuff."

"Jesus, you're serious, aren't you?"

"Have a car dropped on you and tell me if you want ice water after." After a few minutes, he heard a girl singing behind him. He was surprised at how well the girl could sing. He rose back up and shoved some of his hair out of his face, finding himself annoyed at deciding not to keep it tied back to hide his face better for the time being. He looked back at the karaoke stage and noticed it was one of the girls he had been fighting earlier.

"That the one that dropped the car on you?" The bartender asked Argon.

"Nah, it was the other one."

"Raven? Huh, she's not normally like that. She must be rusty after this long."

"Her name's Raven?"

"You don't know them?"

"I'm not from around here. I visited this place once years ago, but I didn't stay long. Old club meeting. Kind of a rough and tumble group. Ran into some Yakuza in a bad way and we had to split. I was young and inexperienced." Argon finished with a chuckle, turning up his drink. Memories of the Titans were starting to come back. One can lose a lot in a hundred years.

'If only circumstances had allowed me to be of more help to my friends…' He added, lost in thought for a moment, deep in old memories, for once ones that were his. After a moment, he noticed a man near him starting to act a bit too wild.

* * *

Kory stepped from the stage, having finished her song. She seemed positively overjoyed that her tongue was back to normal.

"My friends, was it pleasing?"

"Where did you learn to sing like that? You used to be good years ago, but damn!" Garfield said.

"Given a slinky red dress and a piano, youd'ave seduced everyone in the building." Vic added. She blushed and giggled in response.

"Sis? Perhaps you would like to sing for us?" Kory gestured at the stage. Raven smiled and shook her head.

"I might have changed over the years, but not that much Kory."

"Hey, I'll go next. Bet I could put ole' Wayne Brady to shame." The name drop brought a momentary nostalgia for the famous black performer they remembered from their teens.

"Oh, great! Will you use the auto-tune?" Kory responded, smiling and clapping happily.

"Naw, I ain't THAT bad! Besides, active auto-tune's been out for the past ten years!"

"Well, I enjoy it." She pouted in response.

Victor walked on stage, picked out a song, and then started pushing various buttons on the machine, looked hard at what he saw on the screen, smiled, and started. It started out like a slow blues song, but soon picked up the pace, and he seemed to have most of the crowd participating. After about five minutes of singing, he finished his number and stepped down.

"That was most amazing, Victor! You are right, you didn't need auto-tune!" Kory gushed.

"You can say that again" Said a clearly impressed Raven.

"You are right, you didn't need- Hee hee, just kidding!" Kory said, giggling. Dick turned to face Vic to say something when something caught the corner of his eye. He saw a fast gleam of what looked like a bottle…

* * *

…as it came down on Argon's head, shattering, and jarring him a little.

"Ow…"

"Come on, fight me ya sumbish!" the drunkard swayed, his fists raised.

"Take it outside! Not having you wrecking my place! Just got the place wet a few months ago!" the barman yelled. Argon held up one finger in response, then reached over to the drunk, poked his chest, and let some energy trickle through his finger. The man went rigid for a few seconds and fell down, small crackles of crimson electricity coursing over him for a moment.

"Woah, what?" the barman started.

"Ever heard of Ki? Or Chi?" Argon replied.

"Yeah, but I just thought it was old hippie crap, or that Japanimation thing." The barman responded with a raised eyebrow. Argon then held out his hand just in front of his face, filling it with a ball of energy.

"What was it, Kamehameha? Hah." He chuckled, and let the energy ball disperse. He had no idea if the joke flew over the bartender's head or not.

* * *

"Titans, on me. Look over there at the bar ." Nightwing commanded quietly. He saw everything, and recognized the energy.

"Remember the guy we fought earlier today? He's there, third from the right, with the shoulder length hair." He added.

"Time to finish this." Gar said, standing up. The others stood up too, and they started to make their way to the bar. Halfway there, Night noticed the bartender say something to the man, and he seemed to start acting a little nervous. He grabbed a tall black stick, stood up and started making his way to the door, limping a little.

"Hey, you, stop! You know who I'm talking to!" Nightwing commanded. The man stopped and turned around.

"There's been a misunderstanding. I've got problems I'm trying-" he said, but Victor cut him off.

"The only misunderstanding is how you got away, and damn right you've got problems. Making fire creatures, what you did to Starfire and my arm!"

"No!" the man shouted, slamming his stick on the floor, and in a crimson-tinged flash, he disappeared again.

"He's not far, I can feel him!" Raven said. They all rushed outside, to find him twenty yards away, stick on his back, and running as fast as his weak leg was letting him. He then jumped, and a loud roar followed as a focused stream of fire shot from his feet and hands, and he started to rocket skyward.

"I am on him! He will not do what he did to me again!" Starfire said before shooting off after him herself, leaving a trail of green energy after her.

Argon sensed he was being followed, and after a moment of climbing, he stopped and turned. He found himself confronted by a beautiful, and yet clearly angry woman. Her eyes were glowing a bright emerald color, and her hands were obscured by energy that matched.

"I don't want to fight you, but if you face me here…" Argon yelled in warning, making himself heard over the sound of his jet blast holding him up.

"I will face you! You embarrassed me in front of my friends! I will show them I can still fight!" She yelled in response. Argon drew his swords from under the jacket, and just in time to stop a pair of energy beams that shot from her eyes. She quickly gave chase, and Argon accelerated quickly away from her, his afterburners lighting them both up in the night sky. He dumped his energy into his two swords, and then shot towards Starfire, trying to slash at her. She dodged and in one fluid motion fired several starbolts at him. He rapidly spun, using his charged swords to deflect the blobs of energy, next put distance between her and himself, then charged again. She caught him and propelled him in a different direction. Argon tried spin-slashing at her again, but she was just out of reach. Then she charged him, her hands glowing green. He blocked her with her with his swords, dumping energy into them when she made contact, the energy feedback forcing both apart.

* * *

"Dude…" Gar started.

"Damn, they're really going at it up there. Reminds me of when she fought Blackfire that last time."

"Dude! Cy! Do you remember that surfing robot anime I tried to get you to watch years ago?" Gar was struck by a sudden memory.

"Something-Seven, wasn't it? It was weird, too sappy for my taste." Vic remembered it faintly.

"That's cause you never got into it! Seeing this reminds me of some of the fights in that show, Star's trails, and the explosions of that red color from the bad guy!"

"Oh Yeah! Now I remember! GET HIM, STAR!" Vic yelled in encouragement, but he wasn't sure if she heard him over the roar of what sounded like jet engines.

The fight continued on, green and crimson energy trails meeting and deflecting, sometimes with explosions. A spectacular light show above the heads of the other Titans as they cheered on their friend in her fight, confident she would win. The sky and the space beyond it were her territory, after all.

* * *

The two faced each other for a moment, Starfire's eyes still ablaze with her energy, her chest heaving from the stress of their fight. She glared at Argon, himself struggling to control his breathing, the fight, concentration to maintain flight and his two blazing swords taxing his still recovering body and mind. Then they both charged each other with a scream. At the last second, Argon flipped himself over and let his afterburners fade for a moment so he would pass below Starfire. She watched, shock on her face as she responded far too late. Argon struck with both swords, slowing her response further as her now-numb limbs failed her. He reconcentrated his fire back at his feet and quickly reversed direction, jabbing both swords into her head for the knockout blow. The bright emerald energy around her immediately dissipated, and she started falling.

* * *

The Titans watched in horror as the green energy in the sky disappeared. Victor used his enhanced eye to get more detail.

"No, Star lost… She's going down…" He commented. They watched as the distant dot of fire suddenly flared brightly and loudly, and started descending rapidly. At a certain point near the ground, it suddenly changed direction and roared to a halt, and then it started moving closer, getting louder as he approached. The fire soon faded, dropping the man on the ground and he walked towards the team, carrying Starfire. Staying out of reach, he stopped and set her down, and they noticed his two glowing swords were hovering behind him. The Titans were surprised for a moment at how gentle he was when he laid Kory down, but the surprise didn't last long.

"Titans, GO! For Starfire!" Nightwing yelled out. The first to move was Garfield, shifting into a tiger and bounding after the man who took down Starfire. He quickly tackled him, knocking him to the ground, the man barely managing to deflect Gar's large, sharp teeth. A small sharp explosion caught Gar off guard and sent him flying, but no sooner had he hit the ground, he was back up and running. The man anticipated the leap this time, and planted a boot firmly in Garfield's face. One of the glowing swords buried itself to the hilt into Gar's lower back. He roared in pain as the sword pulled out, and he found himself no longer having the use of his hind legs. He crawled for a moment, then shifted into a pterodactyl and flew up, latching on to the man. Gar's head shifted by to human for a moment, just long enough to call out to Vic.

"Cy! Now!"

Victor saw the opportunity, changed both of his arms into sonic cannons, aimed and fired. Both beams smashed into the man's back, sending him tumbling. He screamed, pulled a sword into his hand and jammed it into the ground, stopping himself. He quickly pulled his protesting body upright to face Nightwing, who had combined a pair of his throwing weapons into a sword. Nightwing lunged at the man, taking him on, blade to blades. His speed and tenacity was nearly a match for the man, especially in his weakened state, but just as Nightwing started to lose the upper hand, a sonic beam lanced at the man, who raised one of his swords to block it, but his grip weakened when the beam struck the sword, knocking it out of his hand, causing the charged sword to pass through his other arm, making it go numb and drop his remaining sword. Night took advantage of the opening and spin-kicked his opponent, sending him flying. Raven tossed another car at the fallen man, but the sudden roar of a jet engine at full afterburner sent the car quickly rolling in the opposite direction. The man flung himself upright, his good arm trying to rub life into his numb arm. He let it go and held out his good arm, and one of his swords reappeared in his hand. It started glowing anew with crimson energy, and with a loud hissing sound, flames erupted around the man's feet. The fire started propelling him towards Raven, his sword behind him and ready to slash. Raven saw him coming, and acted.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"


End file.
